


Innocent Exposure

by ArchOfImagine, hufflecas



Series: Indecency [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - High School, Bottom Cas, Bottom Dean, Castiel is 18, Coming Out, Healthy Relationships, Henry is 17 but only sexually active with Castiel, Homophobic Language, Loving Marriage, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Student Castiel, Student Henry, Teacher Dean, Teacher Paul, Teacher-Student Relationship, That's the only 'underage' sex involved, Top Dean, Top/Bottom Henry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-03-30 15:54:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3942658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchOfImagine/pseuds/ArchOfImagine, https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflecas/pseuds/hufflecas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Castiel arrives back home, he's a different person. His trip to D.C. changed him for the better - because now he has the confidence to explore his desires. So it doesn't take long to get a boyfriend, and a little more experience under his belt...</p><p>Until everything backfires. But Dean and Paul are right there to pick up the pieces.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh hey look, it's the sequel to Indecent Composure. How lovely. ;) Same game, different story: expect five chapters in this bad boy. Then we'll move on to part 3 of the 'Indecency' series. 
> 
> **Warning:** The underage tag is there because of Henry Wesson (pfft who says he needs to be a Winchester all the time). In the story Henry is seventeen and will have a thing with Castiel who is eighteen. You've been warned.

After the trip to D.C., home was _different_. Castiel had expected that, but what he hadn’t expected was the level of difference to be so strong. Things he’d spent years coping with — or outright ignoring — were now obnoxious and nearly unbearable. Every time his dad made a gay joke for the sake of being ‘funny’ — and there were a lot more now than he’d ever noticed before — Castiel had to bite back the urge to slap the man. 

And his friends at school just seemed ridiculous. They mocked him about his extended field trip with the ‘ambiguously gay duo’ (the nickname that the cool kids used for Dean and Paul) and asked him immature questions about the trip. ‘You didn’t change in front of them, did you?’ and ‘Surprised you didn’t come back a fag, Cas’ were among the less terrible things he had to deal with. He answered every invasive question with a noncommittal shrug or a vague story about watching hours of Netflix on his laptop or just sitting around playing cards most of the time and eventually his “friends” dropped the topic.

It was probably that aggravation with everyone’s bullshit that had him walking away from practice one afternoon. Since it was after school hours, the campus was mostly deserted except for whatever clubs and sports teams were still meeting. He changed quickly in the locker room, and was aimlessly walking the empty halls when he heard voices.

Without thinking, he moved towards the sound, and when he heard Dean’s deep laugh, he felt his heart start to race. 

At the entrance of one of the extra study hall rooms, sat a sign advertising the school’s weekly Gay/Straight Alliance meeting. _Of course._ He’d known before that Dean and Paul were the teacher sponsors for that. He walked up to the doorway and, when he spotted Dean and Paul at the head of the room talking to the group of about ten kids, he couldn’t help but smile.

He wanted to join in. Move inside the room and take a seat at the back. But he couldn’t help but worry what the other people would think if he showed up so randomly. He knew it wasn’t technically a ‘gay club’ but, all the same, joining it was basically an announcement in and of itself.

He lingered for a long moment, and he was going to leave — he really was — when Paul looked to the open doorway and caught his eye. Smiling, he walked over to Castiel, Dean still addressing the rest of the club.

“Hey, Cas. Would you like to come in?”

Castiel rubbed an anxious hand along the back of his neck as he scanned the crowd. He’d been in the same school district for most of his life, so he _knew_ the kids in that room. But that didn’t mean they were ‘his’ crowd or that he had ever shared more than a few words with any of them. He looked back to Paul, honesty in his eyes as he whispered, “What if they don’t like me?”

Paul stepped into the hallway so as to keep their conversation somewhat private from the rest of the room. “Everyone’s welcome here, Cas. And besides,” he said, leaning in close to whisper in Castiel’s ear, “there’s already two people in this room who like you very much.” He pulled back, his smile warm. 

Castiel wanted nothing more at that moment than to wrap his arms around Paul, bury his face against his warm chest — but he knew he couldn’t do that. What he could do, however, was follow Paul into the meeting room.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. But the welcoming grin from almost everyone in the room definitely wasn’t it. He sat beside one of the chess club geeks that barely even looked up from the book in his lap. Across the room, Dean gave him a smile before beginning to chat with a couple of the students.

Cas leaned over to Chess Club and asked softly, “How does this work?”

“Well,” the guy said, “Mr. Winchester was just telling us that we need to hand in our poster designs for next week if we want them to be printed in time for Diversity Day.”

“Diversity Day?”

An unamused gaze finally looked up from his book and over at Cas. “Yeah. You know — that day where they celebrate _diversity._ ”

_Everyone’s welcome here,_ Castiel recalled sourly. _Sure they are._ “Thanks.”

Suddenly a shadow lingered over Castiel, and when he looked up, he noticed the shaggy haired kid that used to sit beside him in Chemistry. “Ignore Rodney. If it doesn’t involve chess or html, he doesn’t really have an opinion.” The kid held his hand out. “Henry.”

“Castiel,” he returned, shaking Henry’s hand. “So… you been coming to these long?”

“Yeah,” Henry said, “but we should probably pay attention before Mr. Winchester chews us out. He’s kind of a hard-ass.”

Castiel bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing out loud from _that_ particular statement. He turned his attention back to Dean and watched as the older man explained the few things that still had to be accomplished before Diversity Day happened. Once he was done talking, he excused them to finish creating their posters and moved over to turn on a video in the corner of the room.

_Weird._ Cas turned to Henry. “So it’s like arts and crafts and videos?”

Henry laughed at that. “Kind of, yeah. But better than it sounds, I promise. Last week we watched a documentary on the Stonewall Riots and it was really good. And you meet some pretty cool people in here.” His smile turned shy, and Castiel thought he caught glimpse of a blush before Henry angled his face away.

Everyone else seemed to be settling at larger tables with posters and colored pencils set before them. Castiel looked back to Henry and motioned to the tables. “Do you have a poster to finish? I could help,” he offered with a shrug. “I suck at drawing but I can color inside the lines.”

“Um, yeah, actually I do.” Henry withdrew a creased poster-sized paper from one of his school books before spreading it out on the cover. “I’m not great at art either, but my moms helped me with it.”

_Two moms,_ Castiel thought. _That must be why he’s here — but then why was he smiling at me like that?_

Castiel placed a hand on top of the poster, not missing how his fingers brushed over Henry’s, as he looked at what was drawn on it. “Wow, that’s really good. Don’t you hate it when you have creative parents but it like skipped a generation?”

“Yeah,” Henry said, “but I’m smarter than both of them so it’s okay.”

Castiel laughed, shaking his head. “That’s hilarious.” 

Henry shrugged. “I guess so. All I know is I’ve been doing my family’s taxes since I was twelve.”

Cas followed Henry over to one of the tables that was farthest from the group of people focused on the movie. Once they had a bucket of colored pencils set before them, Cas reached for a bright green and looked to Henry. “Hey, didn’t we have chemistry together last semester? Weren’t you like, a year ahead or something?”

“Uh, yeah. I finished Chem 11 last summer, so I did Chem 12 in the fall.” He reached for a purple pencil.

“Summer?” Cas frowned. “You went to _summer_ school? Why?”

Henry began coloring in some block letters carefully. “It’s summer. What else was I going to do?”

Castiel’s summers were generally filled with family vacations, part-time jobs, and baseball practice. He couldn’t imagine choosing to go to school during the summer — even if his dad approved. “Wow.” He began coloring on the opposite side of the page, and after a couple minutes he noticed how his elbow kept hitting Henry’s. He stopped suddenly. “You’re left handed — should we switch sides?”

“Oh yeah, I am,” Henry said as if he was just noticing for the first time. He stood as Castiel did the same, and sat back down again in each other’s chairs.

Castiel looked up to where Dean and Paul were talking over some papers at a table in the corner. Neither saw him looking at them. June wasn’t that far off — he could do this.

\---

It wasn’t _his_ type of thing. Castiel had gone on a couple of dates — when he had to impress his dad with the girls he could ‘land’ — and they had always been your standard dinner and a movie type situations. So when he asked Henry if the other boy wanted to hang out away from school and Henry suggested that Castiel could join him that weekend for an overnight observatory trip, Castiel couldn’t think of a reason to say no. His parents were out of town that weekend, so no one would ask questions if he stayed out all night on Saturday.

They got there about an hour before sunset, which gave them plenty of time to explore the exhibits. Castiel had never actually been to the observatory before, but Henry seemed to be something of a regular. It was like having his own personal tour guide. After being led to the lookout point to watch the sunset and see the first few stars start to come out, the group was called back into the main dome so everyone could have a turn looking at one of the facility’s telescopes. Henry insisted on being as near the front of the small line as possible — grabbing Castiel’s hand and sweeping him along past the other guests.

He addressed the observatory employee at the head of the line by their first name, and Castiel couldn’t help but shake his head. But then Henry was tugging him up to the telescope and pushing Cas forward with a muffled, ‘Look.’

It was the first view of the stars through the magnification of the telescope that had Castiel _getting_ it. “Wow.”

“Pretty cool, huh?” Henry laid his hand on his lower back, and it felt like the most natural thing in world.

Castiel pulled back and they were quickly shoved out of the way so that the next person in line could look through the telescope. Cas intertwined his fingers with Henry’s and smiled. “Thanks for this. I would have never thought to do something like this but it’s absolutely amazing.”

Henry shrugged and smiled back. “Thanks for coming with me. This is the fourth time I’ve been this year, but the first time anyone ever wanted to come along.”

_Fourth?_ Cas chuckled as he followed the directions of a staff member over towards where the overnight cots were set up. “Your interests are amazing. I’ve never known anyone like you, Henry.”

The other boy blushed again — Castiel was beginning to enjoy making him blush.

They settled on their cots for about an hour, talking, before Castiel started to get restless. He leaned over to Henry. “Do they let us walk around after dark? I’m going a bit stir-crazy.”

“Don’t see why not.” He swung his legs over the edge of his cot and Castiel did the same, following Henry as he walked past a volunteer, saying, “We’re just going to walk around for a bit.” Some of the other visitors were sleeping but plenty were holding quiet conversations between their cots.

Once they were in the quiet hallways walking in the muted lights, Castiel felt like he could finally breathe. “Much better. I’m not used to laying down so early in the evening.”

“Yeah,” Henry said. “That’s the only thing about these nights. I’m usually up pretty late, too.”

“So what do you do while you wait?” 

“I bring books. But tonight I’ve got you.”

Cas laughed, and he noticed a side exhibit that was off the main pathway. He pulled Henry into the room and began randomly pointing at items and asking about their origins. The thing was, he wasn’t paying attention the explanations — he was more focused on Henry’s lips.

Until eventually he needed to do more than just look. He didn’t even wait until Henry finished what he was saying, but his sudden proximity definitely caught Henry’s attention. Castiel crowded in close to him, licking his lips before pressing their mouths together. He enjoyed the feel of Henry’s lips against his, until he felt the other boy still, not reacting at all. Had he misinterpreted something?

Castiel pulled back, and Henry was still quiet. “Shit,” Castiel said, “I’m sorry, I—”

“No, it’s okay.” Henry reached out, putting a hand on Castiel’s shoulder. “It’s fine, I just, I never… you know.”

“You never…” It took a moment to click into place. “Henry, was that your first kiss?”

“Yes… it wasn’t yours?”

“No,” Castiel admitted, vivid flashbacks of Dean and Paul’s hungry mouths all over him running through his mind, “but it was really nice. Can I… kiss you again?”

Instead of speaking, Henry nodded his head enthusiastically. Cas smiled and used a finger to tilt Henry’s chin before kissing him again. Henry tasted like chocolate — sweet and satisfying at the same time. 

Castiel could maybe tell for about half a minute that Henry wasn’t an experienced kisser, but the boy learned fast. Cas licked into Henry’s mouth eagerly and Henry’s tongue met his own. The funny thing was, before Paul and Dean — Cas didn’t have any experience either. So to kiss someone his own age that was a _virgin_ was equal parts odd and _fucking hot._

They moved backwards two feet until Henry’s back was pressed against the wall and as Castiel’s tongue continued to explore Henry’s mouth, he let his hands start moving down.

Henry was slim, but he didn’t have the lean physique of someone who worked out or played sports. He was receptive, though, pushing into every touch as Castiel slid his hands down Henry’s chest, and his stomach, and finally resting on his hips.

Castiel skimmed his lips down Henry’s neck as his thumbs brushed beneath the waistband of the other boy’s pants. “I really…” he gasped, “ _really_ like you.”

“I really like you too, Cas.” Henry’s voice was barely above a whisper. He bit his bottom lip and stared straight into Castiel’s eyes as he pushed his hips forward, into Castiel’s touch.

“Shit,” Castiel groaned. He could feel Henry’s erection rubbing along his own and it was an overwhelming sensation. He nibbled gently on Henry’s ear. “Can I suck you off?”

“Do you have any condoms?”

Castiel frowned. “N-no, I wasn’t exactly planning on getting laid tonight. Aren’t you clean, though?”

“I imagine I am, but that doesn’t make it safe.”

_Interesting._ “I don’t…” He glanced down between their bodies and stared at the matching tents in their pants. He wanted to get off but had no idea how. 

“Do you want me to touch you?”

He bit back another groan as he met Henry’s gaze. “I wanted to do something for _you._ ” Cas slid his hand tentatively over the bulge in Henry’s pants. “Is this okay?”

Henry’s adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard and nodded his head. “I’m sorry, I’m just… nervous. And I get kind of paranoid when I’m nervous.”

“Hey, it’s okay. If you’re nervous we don’t have to do anything.” He kissed Henry again, a quick peck on the lips.

With a nod, Henry waited a moment before pulling back. He looked up at Castiel sheepishly. “Do you think we could wait? I don’t want to get caught and be forced to never show my face in the observatory again. I like this place…”

“Say no more.” Castiel raised his hands back to Henry’s shoulders, letting one hand slide into brown shaggy hair. “I don’t think we’d get banned just for making out, though?”

“No,” he smiled, shyly. “A couple got caught doing that three weeks ago. They were in the Mars room.”

“What room is this?” Castiel cast his eyes around but it was too dark to tell.

“Uranus,” Henry deadpanned.

Castiel managed to keep a straight face for about half a second before laughing out loud. The sound bounced off the walls, echoing in the mostly empty space around them. Henry stood there grinning at the result of his joke, while Castiel tried to pull himself together. 

A few moments later, though, they both heard quick footsteps approach accompanied by an annoyed, “Hey! You kids keep it down! Get back to your cots, guys!”

The pair ran past the volunteer, giggling, hand-in-hand. 

Castiel heard the woman sigh behind them. “First the Mars room and now this.”

Once they were back to their cots, Castiel watched Henry lay down before looking from Henry to his own bed. He frowned, waiting a long moment before leaning down and asking, “Think these beds can hold two?”

“Well, you’ve posed the question. I hypothesize that they indeed can. The only logical step now is to test that hypothesis.”

“Did you just apply the scientific method to cuddling?”

Henry shrugged. “This is what you’ve signed up for — take it or leave it.”

“I think I’d like to take it — if that’s alright with you.” Castiel got up from his cot and sat down tentatively on the edge of Henry’s.

Once it was obvious that the cot was going to support both of their weights, he snuggled against Henry with a soft sigh. The blanket Henry had brought was soft and warm and he was definitely happy to be cuddled against him.

Of course as soon as he was on the edge of sleep, he couldn’t help worrying about how his relationship with Henry would affect the future with Dean and Paul. Being around Henry didn’t change how Castiel felt about the two men, and how he felt about them didn’t change the fluttering feeling in his stomach that Henry was starting to give him.

His eyes focused back on Henry as he reached a sudden conclusion.

He would have to tell Henry about his polyamorous relationship with two older men… and hope for the best.


	2. Chapter 2

The weekend they had spent stranded in D.C. Dean had originally planned on finally catching up on the mountain of marking haunting his desk. That first week back, then, he hardly even had two minutes to rub together. It was probably for the best, however, because the busy work had him distracted from thoughts of that trip — and Castiel.

By the second and third weeks, the reality of the situation was slowly starting to set in. It was like a dark cloud settled over him, and wouldn’t leave. Dean woke up on the third Saturday following their impromptu vacation and couldn’t even make himself get out of bed. He groaned, pulling the sheets over his head, and turned to face the wall. 

“Shall I get the IV drip?” Paul asked as he crossed from the master bath to his dresser. Fresh from the shower, water droplets still rolling down his back, he dropped his towel into the laundry basket. “For your coffee.”

Dean grumbled something unintelligible as he tried to snuggle back to sleep. Usually the sight of Paul walking around naked would have his attention immediately. Now? He didn’t even bother lifting his head.

“How about I fry up the rest of that bacon?”

“Not hungry.”

Paul paused, leaving the shorts he’d picked out on top of the dresser. He made his way over to the bed and lay directly on top of Dean, kissing the top of his husband’s head. “What if I promise to wear that pink frilly apron that you like?”

Dean looked up at Paul with a pout. “I miss Cas.”

“I do too, babe.” He smoothed a hand over Dean’s sleep-rumpled hair. “But you have me — mind, body, and soul. And June will come faster than you think.”

Dean sighed. “I know, but. You saw him at the meeting. Talking to people there. And it’s great — he needs to be meeting other queer kids his own age. But that’s just _it_ , Paul. He’s not going to want us four months from now. He’s on the edge of discovering this whole community, this whole new _world._ ”

Paul shook his head, placing gentle kisses along Dean’s face. “It’s scary, I know. But if he finds someone new — then that’s fantastic. If that happens, then it just wasn’t meant to be, love.”

“I know, it’s just — we can’t even call him. Text him. Let him know that we’re thinking of him. Can we?”

“Probably a bad idea.” Paul found Dean’s neck and placed a soft kiss there. “Do you want me to talk about what I’d do with you both if he _was_ here?”

After a moment of contemplation, Dean shook his head. “No.” He pushed Paul away and sat up. “I’m just going to shower and go to the Pancake House.”

“Would you… like a hand?”

“What, at the Pancake House?”

“No.” Paul pressed himself against Dean’s back and began to mouth wet kisses along his neck, under his ear. “In the shower.”

Dean shook him off. “I think I got it.” Normally he would be all over Paul’s suggestion. His cock would already be responding and ready to go.

Now, though, his body hadn’t reacted at all. It hadn’t reacted once since they’d been home. 

Paul placed one more kiss, this one more chaste, against Dean’s shoulder, and backed off. “Can I come to breakfast with you?”

“Yeah,” Dean nodded. “I’ll be ready in twenty.” He stepped inside the bathroom and had pulled the door halfway shut behind him, when he stopped and looked back out to the bedroom and his husband. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

\---

Henry met Castiel at the gate in the large fence around his house. Cas smiled at the sight of his boyfriend and kissed the younger boy gently. When he pulled back, he looked towards the house where he knew that Henry’s moms were inside. “Are they going to run me off if we have PDA’s?”

Henry tucked his hand in Cas’ and lead him along the rock path that went to the small studio apartment that was Henry’s. The first time Castiel had learned that Henry had his own small apartment, he was shocked. But then Henry explained the reasoning behind it — talking about how his moms were _extremely_ loud when having sex, and then liked to wander around the house naked. _’It wouldn’t be such a big deal, except I can’t study when they get in the mood.’_

“Nope,” Henry said. “After last week when you brought them wildflowers, I think they love you more than I do.” 

It was dropped so casually that Castiel didn’t even notice it at first. He stopped in the middle of the path, but held on to Henry’s hand. “You love me?”

Henry turned back, but his eyes couldn’t quite make it up to meet Castiel’s. “Maybe?”

Castiel couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “Well if you maybe do, then I maybe do, too.” He pulled Henry in close and kissed him.

When the kiss broke, Henry had his bottom lip tucked between his teeth. There was a hint of a smile in his eyes as he tugged on Castiel’s hand and lead him through the garden to the studio. It wasn’t very big — three hundred square feet at most — but it had a small kitchenette, a bathroom, a couch on one side of the room and a double bed on the other. Henry clicked the lock in place behind Cas and pulled Castiel to the bed, where he shoved him gently down onto the mattress. 

“I got stuff,” Henry said proudly, as he moved to a nearby table and pulled out a small box of condoms and a bottle of lubricant. He thrust the items towards Castiel. “I’ve done some research — actually, lots of research — and I think that the first time I’d like for you to…” he blushed, “ _top._ But then the next time, if you consent, I want to try.”

“I’d — I’d really like that,” Castiel said, setting down the things on the bed beside him, and moving in close to Henry. “But do you feel ready?” They’d spent a lot of time making out after their first date at the observatory and, in the four weeks since, had moved on to getting each other off with their hands and mouths. Castiel laid a hand on Henry’s thigh, and whispered, “You want me to fuck you?” against his neck.

A visible shiver ran over Henry’s skin. He nodded his head. “I do.” He kissed Castiel once before pulling away and standing up. “But I’ve found in previous experiences that it’s best to stretch first.”

Confusion creased Castiel’s brow. “Previous… experiences?”

“Oh, yes.” Henry undid his pants and kicked them across the floor. “Last week when I bought the lube, I thought it might be a good idea to try and find my own prostate. It was a _very_ successful experiment.”

Castiel grinned. “Oh really? Care to give me a demonstration?”

“If you’d like.” Henry stripped out of the rest of his clothing with ease. Once he was naked, he stood beside his bed, feet planted flat on the floor, and raised his arms to the ceiling, lengthening his body. Castiel stripped to his boxers, sat on the edge of the bed, and just _watched._

After he returned his arms to his sides, Henry sat on the floor, placing the bottoms of his feet together, and pulling them in close to his body. His hands on his ankles, Henry proceeded to lean over further and further, until his forehead was practically touching the carpet between his thighs.

A sudden thought occurred to Castiel and he groaned when he realized it. “How long can you hold that?”

Henry sat up a bit and looked to Cas. “I don’t know, why?”

“Because I’m pretty sure you could suck your own cock if you tried.”

Henry stared at his boyfriend for a long moment, and Castiel couldn’t decipher the look on his face. “Shit,” Cas said. “You’re right, it’s weird. Forget I said anything.”

“No,” Henry said, “not at all! I just can’t believe I never thought of it before.”

Sitting up, Henry reached down and stroked his cock for a few moments until it reached its full length. Once it had, he laid back and folded his legs out over his head — curling into a ball until he was able to suck the tip of his cock into his mouth.

“Holy shit,” was all Castiel could say.

Henry sucked for a few moments, before unfolding and smiling at Castiel. “I can’t believe I never tried that before.”

“How… how was it?”

“Good. Definitely something I’m going to try again sometime.” He jumped to his feet in one swift move and reached for the lubricant. “I’m ready for sex now.”

“Then get your flexible ass over here.” Castiel reached up and pulled his boyfriend down on top of him, and they kissed sloppily through their smiles, teeth clacking together. Cas flipped Henry over so he lay on his back, and kissed a trail down his body, stopping to lick a stripe up the length of Henry’s cock.

“Shit,” Henry gasped. “I’ll never get over how good it feels when you do that.”

“Even though you can do it yourself now?”

Henry brushed his fingers through Castiel’s hair. “It’s different when it’s you.”

Castiel kissed in the crease of Henry’s thigh, sitting back and smoothing his hands along Henry’s legs. “I hope my fingers are okay,” he said, shyly.

The lube was still in Henry’s hand, and he quickly held it out to Cas. “Only one way to find out.”

Cas took the bottle, and opened the cap. He’d never fingered someone else open before. He remembered how slow Dean had been, all those weeks ago. How he’d come almost as soon as the older man had pressed down on his prostate. A shiver ran down his back at the memory — he hoped he could make it as good for Henry. He squeezed a large amount onto his fingers, and Henry took hold of his knees, pulling them towards his chest so his feet hung in the air.

There were few things hotter than seeing Henry willingly spread out for him. Castiel moaned at the sight and leaned forward, mouthing at Henry’s balls as his finger began slowly circling Henry’s hole. Henry’s started to hitch and catch and make little gasping noises as Cas pushed his finger inside. He laid his dry hand on Henry’s side, pushing it up to his chest in a calming gesture. 

It worked, because Henry drew in a deep breath, and said, “More.”

Castiel obliged, sliding his first finger in all the way. He took his time, kissing over Henry’s thighs, cock, stomach — anywhere he could reach — and not adding any more fingers until Henry was practically begging for it, trembling under Cas’ touch.

When the second finger pressed gently inside, Castiel mouthed at Henry’s hip bone and curled his fingers — seeking out the spot that would drive Henry crazy. When he found it, the boy’s hips shifted up off the bed and he cried out softly.

“Holy shit.”

“What?” Henry asked, concern clear in his voice. “Am I okay?”

“Yes,” Castiel said, leaning forward to kiss at Henry’s collarbone. “You’re fucking gorgeous.”

Another soft rub along Henry’s prostate and fingers were tugging desperately at Castiel’s hair as Henry bucked up and came against his own stomach. 

Castiel kept his fingers inside while Henry came, the feeling of Henry’s muscles clenching around his fingers going straight to his dick. “I want you so fucking bad.”

Henry reached to the table beside his bed, and pulled some tissues from the box there. Wiping up the pool of come on his stomach he looked up at Castiel through his shaggy, sweat-damp hair. “So fucking take me.”

It was all Cas needed to hear. One last kiss to Henry’s dick and he was pulling back, wiping his hand clean on one of the tissues that Henry thrust towards him, before grabbing the box of condoms and pulling one free. He bit on his bottom lip as he slid boxers off and slowly unrolled one of the condoms onto his hard cock. A generous amount of lube and he was _ready._

His eyes flashed as he looked back to Henry. “Like this? Or on your hands and knees?”

“Like this. I want to look at you.”

Castiel smiled, pressing closer to Henry and grabbing the younger boy’s legs. He positioned Henry’s ankles on his shoulders and reached down to position his cock. “Tell me if it’s too much, okay? We can stop at anytime.”

Henry nodded before finding his words again. “I will. Thank you.”

Castiel pushed in, and he had to bite back a gasp when he was fully seated inside Henry. _He’s so tight._ “That okay?”

“It’s—” Henry closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, exhaling slowly before speaking again, “—really fucking good.”

“Good.” Castiel’s movements were shallow at first, rolling his hips gently against Henry. As his boyfriend’s gasps and moans became louder, and his groans of “Cas, _please_ ” became more and more desperate, Castiel fucked into him harder. When Henry had his ankles crossed behind Castiel’s neck, and their bodies were pressed impossibly close together, Cas could feel his orgasm build deep in his gut. He came hard, Henry clinging to him, kissing his neck, and whispering his name like a prayer.

Henry reached between their bodies to grasp his own cock as his legs slid down to wrap around Cas’ waist, holding Cas close and keeping him inside him. Castiel leaned up enough to look down between their bodies and watch Henry jerking off. “Holy shit, how do you keep getting hotter, Henry?”

A smile curled the corner of Henry’s mouth as he shrugged. “I have good inspiration, I guess.”

\---

A while later, the two boys sat in their boxers and t-shirts on the floor of Henry’s room. They were eating ice cream out of the carton — soft, because the mini-fridge in Henry’s suite never froze that well — and with only one spoon between the two of them, because Henry didn’t normally keep more cutlery than he needed.

“So, uh…” Castiel began, “How do you feel? After, you know, your first time.”

Henry shifted on the pillow that he had placed beneath him on the floor. “I feel amazing. Sore — but it’s a _good_ sore.” Henry took another bite of ice cream, before leaning his head on Cas’ shoulder. “If I asked, would you tell me about your first time?”

Castiel took the spoon from Henry, taking a large helping so as to give him more time to consider his answer. He wanted to share everything with Henry, but some things just weren’t his to share. He shrugged. “There’s not that much to tell.”

“I don’t buy that.” Henry took the spoon back from him. “Was it a while ago?”

“A couple months.” He frowned, feeling uneasy. “I’m… not sure you would understand.”

“Was it a bad experience?”

“No. Quite the opposite, actually. They were amazing.”

Henry caught on right away. “ _’They’_?”

_Shit._ “I, um… I had a thing with two men.”

For a moment, Castiel was worried Henry’s eyes were going to bug right out of his head. “Fuck. That’s really hot.”

_It is?_ “It is?”

Henry snorted a small laugh. “Didn’t _you_ think so? At the time?”

_Just the hottest fucking thing ever._ “Well… yeah.” Castiel played with a loose thread on the rug a moment before shooting a glance at Henry. “You don’t think I’m a freak, or a slut?”

Henry raised his eyebrows. “If you haven’t figured out by now that I’m pretty open-minded when it comes to sex, then you haven’t been paying attention. Did you miss me sucking my own cock, over there, about an hour ago?”

“Well that’s a long way off from having a polyamorous relationship with two married guys,” Cas said. He tucked a couple strands of Henry’s hair behind his ear. “Is it hot because they were both guys, or because of the poly aspect?”

“Mm, both.” Henry looked at Castiel like he was a secret message to be deciphered. “Would you tell me about it? Who fucked who?”

“For the most part the older of the two fucked his husband and I. But at one point… I fucked one while the other fucked me. It was intense.”

“I see,” Henry said with a nod. Taking the spoon, he scooped out another bite of ice cream, his attention focused on the bite. “So Paul fucked you while you fucked Dean?”

Castiel groaned, eyes slipping closed at the memory. “Yes. It was amaz—” His words cut off and his eyes flew open as he turned to look at the smirk on his boyfriend’s face. Both hands flew to his face, covering his mouth as if he could still catch the words, or shove them back in. _Shit._ “Henry,” he began, “Henry you _can’t_ tell anyone—”

Shaking his head, Henry kissed the side of Cas’ mouth. “I would never betray your confidence like that, Cas.”

Castiel could still feel his face burning over his colossal fuck-up. “Really? Because they could get in _so much trouble_ , and I—”

“And you want to pick things up again with them after you graduate?”

His face fell a bit. “I do. I did. But that was before _you._ ” He reached up to scratch at the back of his neck. “I don’t want to lose you, Henry. I love you. But… I feel so connected to them.”

“So keep me in the picture,” he said, as simply as though he were suggesting what to have for lunch. “You already said it was a polyamorous type of deal.”

Castiel frowned. “You’re being surprisingly chill about this.”

“Well, I’ve never been fucked by my history teacher before, but I have an aunt and an uncle who share a wife. Since before I was born, and they seem pretty happy.”

“ _Interesting._ ” He kissed Henry’s temple. “So… you’re okay with sharing me?”

“Immensely.” Henry kissed him on the lips and he tasted sweet and sticky. “You’re not getting rid of me anytime soon.” He paused, looking cautious. “I mean, unless you want to.”

“Not a chance.”


	3. Chapter 3

In the world of high school sports, baseball had to rank as his third favorite sport to play. If given a choice, Castiel definitely preferred football. Hell… he liked playing _tennis_ more than he liked playing baseball.

But spring time meant pitching and batting and praying he didn’t mess up his arm too badly before football started up again in the summer. On one particular Wednesday evening, he had just finished pitching a winning game for the school team against their rivals from two towns over. Castiel hung around, gathering his things slowly, while the crowd dissipated. Ten minutes later, he found Henry waiting for him behind the dugout. The spot was private — except that his whole team could walk by at any moment — so Cas pulled Henry behind the nearby equipment shed and pushed him back against the concrete wall.

“Hey hottie,” he whispered, leaning down to brush a kiss along Henry’s neck. “Did you watch me kick ass?”

Henry hummed in delight as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and pulled himself into the kiss. “Mostly just watched your actual ass. But yes, I was very impressed by your… _performance._ ”

Castiel smirked against Henry’s lips. “Hey, these pants can make any ass look fantastic. Maybe you should join the team.” He reached down, squeezing Henry’s ass to emphasize his point.

“If I join the team can I spend all my time making out with you in the locker room?” Henry leaned in to kiss him, and smiled against Castiel’s mouth.

“Shit,” he groaned. “You have a way of making this damn athletic cup even more uncomfortable.” One more kiss, and Castiel was forcing himself to pull back. “I gotta go get changed before my dad shows up. He wouldn’t let me have the car tonight. We still on for Friday?”

“We’d better be. Moms are gonna be out late so we can have the big T.V. in the living room.”

Castiel scrunched up his face. “Are they doing that orgy thing again?”

“They might be?” Henry tilted his head slightly and scratched at his bottom lip. “I can never remember if _that’s_ the thing on the third weekend of the month, or if it’s their book club.”

“The gross part is the fact that the same people meet for both,” Castiel said with a laugh.

“I guess so,” Henry shrugged. “They just pack different things in their purses depending on the night. I mean, I would hope.”

He shuddered. “Okay, I have to have dinner with them on Sunday and look them both in the eye, so I think that’s enough _orgy_ talk.” He kissed Henry once more for good measure. “I love you, now get that cute butt out of here before I lose all of my self-control.”

“I love you too.” Henry winked, and turned to go. “See you on Friday! I’ll text you when I get home,” he called over his shoulder. 

As soon as Henry was out of sight, Cas moved back around to the dugout. He was stopped suddenly, though, by a large hand in the middle of his chest. He looked up to see one of his teammates, Ryan O’Neill, standing before him with five other players flanking him. 

Judging by the sneering looks on their faces, they weren’t there to celebrate.

“So it looks like you _did_ turn faggy. I thought it was a mistake.” Ryan feigned shock. “Imagine my surprise when Dillon said he saw you leaving the _queer_ club.”

“Fuck yourself, Ryan.” Castiel made to walk away but another boy stepped in his path, blocking him.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Ryan shook his head, circling the spot where Castiel stood. “You wanna suck my dick, Novak?”

Castiel stood up straight, squared his shoulders, and stared Ryan down. He felt a dull surprise that he wasn’t actually shaking. He was more scared for Henry — what if some of the other boys had met him on the other side of the parking lot? “I would, if I thought it wasn’t too small to find.”

The first blow hit the back of his head — he wasn’t sure by who — and the ground rushed up to meet his face before he knew what was going on. There were too many people on him to even think about getting back on his feet. It was all he could do to pull his arms over his face — before he felt one of them get wrenched backwards, _hard._ He heard a pained scream and realised a moment later it was his.

\---

When Castiel opened his eyes again, it took a while for him to understand where he was. It took him even longer to realise what had happened. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of a heart monitor, and he blinked and turned to look to his left.

His head hurt at just the slightest motion, and despite having _opened_ his eyes — one seemed to be mostly swollen shut. He noticed the man sitting beside what he presumed was a hospital bed. “Dad?”

Robert Novak took a moment to fold the paper he had been reading, before looking up at Castiel. “ _Son._ ”

“Where am I?” Castiel’s mouth was so dry that pushing out words was painful at first.

“Hospital. Few of your teammates gave you a well-deserved beatdown.” 

“Wh-what? Why?” His mind was still mostly drawing a blank. He could see a few angry faces floating in darkness.

The paper was tossed aside as Robert stood, looming over his son’s bed. “I think you know why. Think. Think real hard.”

_Shit._ “Henry!” Castiel struggled to sit up, being punished for the sudden movement by all sorts of pain shooting through his body. “My — my friend. Is he okay?”

“He’s fine,” Robert conceded quietly. Castiel couldn’t help but think he heard a little disappointment in the statement and it made him sick to his stomach. “How the hell could you be a sonuvabitch faggot? I thought I raised you better than that shit.”

Castiel couldn’t say he was terribly surprised, but he still didn’t know what to say. He chose to say nothing.

“Your hospital bill is taken care of. You’re still on my insurance even though you’re eighteen. Doctor said you’ve got a broken arm and three cracked ribs. They’ll let you out in a couple days.” Castiel’s father turned to leave. “I hope you have a place to stay.” 

His stomach rolled at his father’s words. “Wait — what about all of my stuff? You’re just going to kick me out without letting me get my clothes and shit?”

Robert shrugged. “You’ve got a week. Get it anytime I’m at work. I’ll donate it after that.”

His father didn’t stay to chat. Castiel couldn’t really be bothered to care, though. He forced himself to sit up, despite the pain, and looked down to his right. Just like his father had said — his right arm was carefully wrapped in a hard cast. _Fuck._ There went his college football dreams.

\---

Castiel was released from the hospital two days later. It was Saturday, and he couldn’t help but wonder what Henry had thought when Cas hadn’t shown up for their date the night before. He wanted desperately to call his boyfriend but his phone had gotten smashed in the fight.

A small part of him was also worried that just being around Henry would put him in danger. What if Ryan and his crew went after him? From what the doctors had told him, the fight could have — and probably would have — been deadly if a few passers by hadn’t stepped in.

He sat on a bench in front of the hospital and waited for the taxi that a nurse had called for him. Thank God he’d set up his own bank account a few months back, when he’d turned eighteen — otherwise he would be homeless _and_ broke.

When the taxi arrived and asked where he needed to go, he contemplated all of the possible answers to that question — before giving the name of one of the town’s cheaper motels.

\---

Getting his things from his father’s house proved to be more difficult than expected, but he called up a couple friends that weren’t affiliated with Ryan and asked for their help. They got everything that he needed moved into his motel room by Sunday afternoon. Packed into a couple cardboard boxes and a few garbage bags, all of his worldly possessions took up a strangely small amount of space.

On Monday morning, he held his backpack carefully on his left shoulder and took the city bus to school. Thankfully, the swelling on his face had gone down a little, but he was still taking plenty of pain meds for his broken ribs, and was still sporting the cast and sling on his right arm.

He would never take peeing for granted again. Or using a fucking spoon.

Castiel ignored the few stares and hushed whispers that followed him up the main steps and through the front door of the school. He headed to his locker, but took the roundabout route that _wouldn’t_ take him past the staff room. As he had both hoped and feared, Henry was waiting at his locker.

He ducked his head out of shame and tried to maneuver to get to the combination lock without much issue. Of course, with only one hand at his disposal, he was left trying to hold the lock steady with his knee as he turned the dial with his left hand. 

Henry put his own bag on the floor and bent down to hold the lock still for Castiel.

“Thanks.” Castiel said. The device finally clicked open on his third try.

“Cas, what the _hell_ happened to you?”

Castiel balanced his bag between his knee and the locker, removing the things he wouldn’t need for his first class. “I — I gotta get to class.” He swallowed a lump in his throat that felt like it was made of metal.

“What. Happened.”

The first bell went off and the hallways started to shuffle people around them as students rushed to get to class. Castiel looked up and noticed one of Ryan’s friends staring from a few doors down. His stomach turned and he focused back on Henry. “I think it’d be best if we put things on hold for a while, Henry.” He raised his backpack and threw it over his left shoulder again. “Please, just… respect that for me?”

“I would if I thought that was really what you wanted. But I don’t.” 

A door slammed down the hall and Castiel flinched, causing the muscles in his chest to contract and push on his ribs. “Shit,” he gasped, placing a shaking hand against the spot that hurt.

“Okay, I don’t care what it is, you’re skipping your first class and telling me what the hell is going on.” Henry closed Castiel’s locker, grabbed him by his good shoulder, and led him to the handicapped bathroom on the first floor.

Once the door was shut and locked behind them, Henry had his arms crossed over his chest as he gave Cas a very stern ‘get the fuck on with it’ look. Castiel ducked his head. “Some guys from the game last week saw us together. They beat the shit out of me for being gay. That’s it… there’s nothing else to tell.”

“Your arm’s broken.”

“Yeah. Couple of ribs, too.”

“Shit.” For a moment his ever-cool demeanor threatened to crack, as he stepped in close to Castiel, examining the cuts and bruises on his face. Castiel tried his best not to flinch when Henry brushed a thumb over his swollen cheek. “You look terrible,” Henry said, barely above a whisper. Henry gently drew his arms around Castiel, and held onto Cas for a good while, laying his head on his uninjured shoulder. “I was so worried about you.”

When Henry pulled away, Castiel ducked his head to hide the tears streaking down his face. It had been a rough week, and he hadn’t realized how much he needed to feel loved.

\---

Castiel was already behind in his classwork, so after a quick kiss, he begged Henry to let him go to class. _’And be careful — watch your back,’_ he reminded as he walked away.

After sitting through two classes and eating his lunch quickly, Henry made his way through the second floor of the high school. He was on a mission and barely even noticed the other kids in the hallway. He stopped outside of room 214 and glanced through the small rectangular window. As he had expected, Mr. Winchester and Mr. Stewart were sitting at Mr. Winchester’s desk eating lunch together. 

He knocked twice before opening the door and stepping inside without invitation. When the door shut behind him, he pressed the lock in. They couldn’t be interrupted during the conversation they were about to have.

The two teachers looked up at him in shock. Mr. Winchester wiped his mouth with a napkin and frowned. “Henry! What a surprise. Did we have a meeting scheduled for today? I don’t remember having anything written on my calendar.”

Henry walked across the classroom and stood before them, spine straight and hands behind his back. “No, actually. I’m sorry to interrupt your meal, but this was the only time when I could catch you both out of class. I’m here on behalf of a friend—” They looked at him with raised eyebrows, curiosity written in their eyes. “Castiel Novak.”

The look that flashed between the two men would have been completely unnoticeable, if Henry hadn’t known to look for it. Mr. Winchester coughed.

“Of course,” Mr. Stewart said. “I know you and he are close. I was surprised to see his arm in a cast this morning. Do you know what happened?”

“That’s why I’m here,” Henry said. “He’s telling people that he fell off his bike. But it’s a lie.”

Mr. Winchester looked towards his husband with a frown creasing his brow. Castiel didn’t have History until after lunch. “Cas’ arm is in a cast? You didn’t say anything.”

“Well, I—”

Henry fought the urge to roll his eyes. “He was _attacked_. Last Wednesday after the baseball game, a group of players saw us together. They beat him up. Because he’s gay. And if you know him half as well as I do, you know that he won’t ask for help.” Henry turned to leave. “I just thought you should know.”

Mr. Winchester looked too shocked to speak. “Thank you for telling us, Henry,” Mr. Stewart said. “You’re a good friend.”

“I’m trying to be.”

\---

The door clicked shut behind Henry and Dean turned to his husband in a panic. “Paul… we have to do something.”

“We do, but we need to tread lightly.”

Dean threw his hands in the air in frustration. “Fuck that! Cas is _hurt_ because some assholes got away with a hate crime. We’ve seen this happen before — he could have _died_. We’re going to make sure he’s okay, no matter what it takes.”

“And we will, but just remember, Castiel isn’t _out_. Not yet. I know you feel protective of him — I do too — and I want nothing more than to bring his attackers to justice. But this could get messy, and we need to respect what Castiel wants.”

His head hung. “How am I supposed to look at him this afternoon and not lose it?”

“I don’t know, but you need to. For him. For Cas.”

Dean leaned forward, his head dropping down on Paul’s shoulder. “Can we at least invite him over for dinner tonight? Find out the whole story?”

“I think that’s a good idea, yes. Do you think we should invite Henry too? They’re obviously close, and Cas needs all the support he can get right now.”

The pout on Dean’s face was undeniable. He had plans for Castiel that _wouldn’t_ happen if Cas’ boyfriend was around. “Do we have to?”

“I think we should ask. But even if he doesn’t come, this can’t be anything more than two concerned teachers looking out for the welfare of a vulnerable student. You know that, Dean.”

The alarm on Paul’s phone went off, signaling that he had just enough time to get back to his own classroom before students started streaming in. Dean stuck out his tongue and crossed his arms like a petulant child. “You’re needed elsewhere. Go away and stop crushing my dreams. Dreamkiller.”

“I love you, too.” Paul stood, putting his empty lunch containers back into their bag. He rounded to the other side of Dean’s desk and kissed the side of his husband’s forehead. “It’s going to be okay, Dean.”

\---

Written on the top of his homework page was a note in Dean’s handwriting. _Dinner. 6:30. Bring Henry._

Castiel avoided Dean’s gaze for most of the class and didn’t speak up once to answer a question. He hadn’t had much of a desire to talk all day. It was like the attack had systematically broken down his spirits to the point that he was a shell of his former self. Henry attempted once more to talk to him after school, but Castiel brushed it off as he headed for the bus stop. 

It was only a ten minute wait, but before the bus was even close a 90s era Subaru wagon was pulling to a stop in front of him. The driver’s side door opened and Henry climbed out to look over the roof of the car. “Get in,” he demanded. “You aren’t going to keep avoiding me.”

“What, are you kidnapping me? My bus is going to be here soon.”

“If that’s what it takes, yes.” Henry waited but Castiel didn’t move. He huffed, “Come on, Cas. I’ll give you a ride. Just get in the car.”

Castiel couldn’t help but glance around nervously to see who was watching them. He dropped his head and walked forward to the passenger side door, balancing his backpack carefully as he opened the door. It took a bit of maneuvering, but finally he got settled and reached across his own body to close the door with his good arm. Of course, as soon as the door was shut, he turned to look to the right and groaned at the sight of the seat belt. “This is why I rode the bus. Fucking seatbelts and broken arms.”

Henry said nothing, but leaned over and pulled the belt across Cas’ body, clicking the buckle in place. Henry sat back, fastening his own seat belt, before turning the ignition. “Where to?”

“Eighth Street Inn,” Castiel mumbled, leaning his head against the window.

“You’re staying at a motel?” Henry asked as he pulled away from the curb.

“You think my father would let a fag like me continue to sleep under his roof?”

“Fuck.” Henry looked to stare at Castiel. “He kicked you out?”

He nodded his head. “Yeah. Watch the road.”

“But—” 

“Can we not talk about this, please?”

Henry carried on, either having not heard Castiel’s last statement or simply deciding that he hadn’t. “How can you afford a motel? You don’t have a job.”

“Had money saved. When my mom died, I got a portion of the will that was set aside until I turned eighteen. Essentially it was my money for college. But…” He held up his broken right arm. “No point in that anymore.”

“Well you’re not spending it on a crappy motel just because your terrible father kicked you out of his stupid homophobic house. We’re picking up your things and you’re going to stay with us.”

Castiel looked over and a flash of normalcy sparked in his eyes. “No.”

“Cas.”

“ _No._ I’m not going to put you in danger, Henry. Those assholes won’t stop. They wanted to kill me. They would have hurt you too if you hadn’t already walked off. So if you think for _one second_ that I’m going to move in with you and wave a giant fucking rainbow colored flag from the rooftops… well you’re _wrong._ ”

“Well you wouldn’t have to, because my moms already have a giant rainbow flag.”

“That’s not what I—”

“Cas, you were targeted and you’re not even _out_. I’ve never hidden who I am, and I’m younger than you, smaller than you, and come from a same-sex parent household. If you’re not safe, I never have been either. We need to stick together now more than ever.” Castiel didn’t say anything else and Henry seemed to get the memo. He reached across the center console and squeezed Cas’ hand. “Listen, let’s just think about it and make a decision later. Mr. Winchester stopped me in the hall on the way out this afternoon and said he wanted you and I to come over for dinner…”

Castiel sighed. “He asked me too, during class. I think he knew that telling you was a way to get me to actually go.”

“That doesn’t sound like an objection to me,” Henry stated. He turned the car onto Eighth Street with a small smile. “We’ll just relax at your fancy digs until then. Sound good?”

Castiel continued to stare out the window, even as Henry pulled into a parking spot at the motel. “Yeah. Sure.”


	4. Chapter 4

Dean was such a mess over everything that was going on with Castiel that, when they got home at four that afternoon, he knew he wouldn’t be able to focus and actually make dinner. And considering the fact that Paul could somehow burn water — they were left with the options of take-out or pizza. 

He left the pizza menu laying on the counter for later and stripped off his jacket as he walked towards the stairs. The two hours that it would take for Cas to get there were going to drive him insane. The best answer he could think of to force himself to relax was to take a hot bath. 

It wasn’t surprising when steady footsteps followed him up the stairs. Paul said nothing as he stood in the doorway of their bedroom and watched his husband unbutton his shirt.

Dean was stripped down to his boxers when the anger hit like a wave. He grabbed the first thing he could find on the dresser — a large mason jar full of loose change — and hurled it across the room with a scream. The glass cracked and the change went wild as the jar hit the far wall before dropping to the floor.

Paul crossed the room and pulled Dean into a tight, almost restrictive hug. Dean tried to fight back, tried to push him away, but he soon gave up. Paul was stronger than him, and Dean didn’t actually want to be left alone. Not that he would ever admit that.

His heart continued to race, though, and he shook his head. “I can’t do it,” he gasped. If the pain that he was currently feeling was going to continue for another three months — he was ready to give up his career right then and there. “Fuck the law. Fuck the rules. I need time with him tonight or I’m going to go insane. It feels like—” He turned to look up at his husband with teary eyes, “It feels like a whole chunk of my heart is gone. Just gone. It hurts like not being able to touch _you._ And I can’t, Paul…”

“You think I don’t feel the exact same hurt that you do?”

With a huff, Dean finally shoved his husband away and moved to the bathroom. He forced the shower curtain out of the way so hard that he practically ripped it off the small metal hooks that hung from the curtain rod. He got the bath going before sitting on the edge of the tub in his boxers and repeatedly flexing his fists. He couldn’t tamp down any of the frustration he was feeling. And he loved Paul with all of his heart, but the man was going to drive him _mad._ They’d had a similar argument when news had come that Sean wouldn’t be staying in town. 

Of course it hurt Paul just as badly. Beneath his baser instincts he _knew_ that.

But he couldn’t handle his own hurt _and_ Paul’s. He could only deal with what was right in front of him — and that was gut-wrenching, soul crushing, _longing_.

“I think your water is ready,” Paul said from the doorway. 

Dean shucked off his boxers and settled down into the tub before shutting off the faucet. They had splurged when they’d remodeled their house and gone with larger than average bathtubs since they were both six feet tall. It still required having his knees bent a bit, but at least he could relax back with his head on the back side of the tub.

“Dean, what do you want me to do? Would it—” he sighed, “—would it be easier if I distracted Henry for a few minutes when they got here? So you could take some time with just you and Cas.” 

He knew that the adult answer would be to say no. After all, how was that fair to Paul? But Dean couldn’t imagine making it through the next _day,_ let alone three months, without touching Castiel again. “I just…” he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and avoided Paul’s gaze. “I need to make sure he’s okay.”

“Of course you do. I want to make sure he’s okay, too.” Dean could see Paul lingering by the door in the corner of his vision. “Hey,” Paul said, “look at me.”

Dean complied, begrudgingly.

“You’re going to get through this — _we’re_ going to get through this. All of us.”

\---

Every time Henry tried to touch him, Castiel could hear the derogatory remarks of Ryan’s gang playing in his mind. Anything beyond hand holding had his skin feeling itchy and his clothes too restrictive. Thankfully, they had homework to distract them as they waited out the time before dinner.

He was afraid of going to Dean and Paul’s house. He felt ashamed of the marks on his skin and even worse — he was ashamed that he was ashamed. 

But there was no getting out of it. Henry would probably knock him out and drag him to the car if he had to. 

When they arrived at the quaint, two-story bungalow, he felt queasy. 

What would they think of him? 

What would they think of his relationship with Henry?

Were they going to tell him that it was over? That it was too much of a risk to be with him? 

His left hand was shaking as he followed Henry up the sidewalk. He quickly clenched it into a fist and shoved it in the pocket of his jeans. 

When Henry knocked on the door, Cas dropped his gaze down to the ground.

“Henry, Castiel,” he heard Paul greet them warmly. “We’re really glad you made it. Please, come in.”

Castiel followed Henry’s feet and didn’t even glance up when Paul brushed the back of his hand along Cas’ left arm. The shiver was unstoppable, but one brush of skin didn’t mean much in the long run.

“We’ve ordered pizza. It just got here. Henry, would you like to join me in the kitchen and pick out something to drink? Dean and Castiel need a minute to talk.”

_What? They did?_ Castiel raised his head and watched Paul and Henry leaving the foyer through an open doorway. When he turned, he caught Dean’s penetrating green gaze and felt the breath leaving his chest. 

_Shit._ They were going to break up with him _before_ dinner? He tucked his head down again and slid back a step until he could reach down and feel the front door’s handle. He might not be at one hundred percent, but that wouldn’t stop him from making a break for it. “Just get it over with,” he mumbled. “Make it quick.”

“Not out here,” Dean said, and turned down a short hallway. 

Castiel followed, though he couldn’t have said why. Dean was waiting for him in a small bedroom. He was expecting Dean to give him ‘the talk,’ or possibly even give him shit for being too public with Henry.

What he wasn’t expecting was for Dean to kiss him.

It didn’t fully hit him what was even happening until a couple of long moments had passed. Then, with a bit of hesitation, he raised his left hand and laid it gently against Dean’s cheek as he began to kiss him back.

Fuck, he had needed that.

“Please,” Dean whispered, his voice pained, “please tell me you missed this like I did. At least a little.”

Castiel groaned, pulling back and looking down his body. The khaki shorts that he was wearing did nothing to hide his ‘reaction’ to Dean’s kiss. “I have a boyfriend. I’m still your student. I thought we had to follow _rules._ ”

“I—” Dean looked off to the side, and rubbed his hand over his face once before looking back to Castiel. “The rules might fucking kill me. Unless… unless you want to just be with Henry. He’s a good kid, and it’s obvious he’s nuts about you.”

“I love Henry,” he whispered, “I do. But that doesn’t make me love you and Paul any less.”

“What… what are you saying?”

“That the whole ‘you can’t have your cake and eat it too’ saying is pure bullshit.” He leaned forward, his head landing in the crook of Dean’s neck. “I need you all.”

Dean circled his arms around Cas’ back, and he must not have known about the cracked ribs, because he squeezed Castiel just a little too hard. But at that point he welcomed the pain. “We need you, too.” He kissed the side of Castiel’s head.

Cas let the hug go on for as long as he could handle it, before he was coughing, cringing, and pulling away with a look of pain on his face. “My uh… my ribs didn’t fare so well in the attack.”

“Oh, shit!” Dean released him immediately. “Do you need something for that? Do you want to sit down?”

“No. I took some painkillers before I got here.” He stuck his bottom lip out in a pout. “But another kiss might help…”

“ _That_ I can definitely help you with.” Dean drew in close to Castiel again, but much gentler. He kissed Castiel tenderly at first, before deepening the kiss.

Just as the kiss was starting to get good, there was a soft knock on the door behind Castiel. Dean pulled away, looking extremely guilty as he reached around Castiel and pulled the door open. 

It was Paul on the other side, and when he saw the look on Dean’s face, he quirked an eyebrow. “My turn,” he mumbled. Dean nodded and brushed between the other two men as he went in search of Henry. 

Cas stared at Paul in the open doorway of the small bedroom. Paul had always been the more strict of the two — so he had no idea what to expect. 

The older man smiled, though, and leaned forward to brush a gentle kiss on the side of Cas’ lips, as his hand held Castiel’s good elbow. When the hint of a kiss was gone, Paul winked. “I’m glad you’re okay, kid. I don’t know what we would have done without you.”

\---

They made it halfway through dinner before Henry dropped the bomb. He did it so casually that it caught Castiel completely off-guard.

One minute the younger boy was eating his third slice of vegetarian pizza — the next he was stating quite confidently, “Castiel got kicked out of his dad’s house. He’s staying in a shady motel on Eighth and won’t take me up on the offer of staying at my place.”

It was Paul who spoke first. “Cas, is this true?”

Castiel glared at Henry — seriously reconsidering his _feelings_. “Maybe.”

“That fucking—”

“ _Dean_ ,” Paul said, his tone warning.

“—how could any father—” Dean cut himself off, and he looked like he was going to punch something.

“He doesn’t approve of having a gay son,” Cas whispered, poking at his food.

“He doesn’t deserve you,” Dean said, looking Castiel straight in the eye. 

“Of course he doesn’t,” Henry confirmed. “But that doesn’t deter from the more immediate issue. Castiel is _homeless._ He’s spending his college money on his room.”

“Not anymore,” Dean said. “You’re staying here. End of discussion.”

“I tried that,” Henry said. “He wouldn’t listen to me.”

“And _he_ may be injured and not capable of dressing himself at the moment but is still right here.” Castiel set his slice of pizza down and turned to his boyfriend. “I love you, Henry, but you live in a three hundred square foot studio behind your sex-crazed moms’ house. I can’t… we would drive each other insane if we were forced on top of each other like that.”

Henry met his gaze, waiting a moment before looking down at his food and mumbling, “Didn’t mind us being on top of each other last week.”

Castiel sighed. “That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

“We have the room,” Paul said, speaking up suddenly. “You saw the spare bedroom before dinner.”

Cas looked over his shoulder towards the hallway that went to that room. After a moment, he turned back to face Paul. “People will talk.”

“About what?” Paul replied. “I hate to say it, but people are going to find out what happened, and _why_ it happened. Lots of gay teens have trouble with their families. We’re the GSA teachers — it would almost be strange if we _didn’t_ step up to help you.”

\---

Tuesday evening was spent moving Castiel’s things from the motel to the downstairs bedroom in Paul and Dean’s home. Once everything had been carried inside by the two older men, Castiel sat on the edge of the double bed and brushed his left hand over the comforter. Dean was getting dinner ready but Paul had yet to leave Cas’ side.

Paul spoke from his spot in the doorway. “We had a meeting with the principal this morning. We told him about the attack — this was the first he had heard of it — and then about how your father had kicked you out because of your sexuality. He approved of us helping you out. But this means we might be under a bit of a microscope for a while.”

Castiel nodded, looking up at Paul. Though he understood what Paul was trying to say, he didn’t particularly like it. “I got it — the rules are still in place. No touching until graduation.”

“I’m afraid so. But at least you’re here.”

“Yeah.” He looked down at the boxes of things by his feet. “How long before I have to leave?”

“Leave? Cas, you can stay here as long as you need.”

It was kind of like being offered the opportunity to sleep at the candy factory and told that you can never have sugar again. Castiel sighed, “I think I’m going to work on unpacking some things then.”

“Do you want a hand? I’m generally not allowed in the kitchen when Dean’s cooking anyway.”

“Nah, I got it.”

\---

Taking a shower with a cast on your dominant hand was probably one of the more difficult tasks in the world. Which is why Castiel had avoided it as much as possible. He’d taken a couple of sponge baths and his own version of a shower that meant standing outside of the tub and leaning in far enough to wash his hair with his left hand.

The first Saturday after moving in with Paul and Dean, he knew he had reached his limit. It had been a week since he’d been released from the hospital, and he just wanted to feel _clean._

He carried a fresh set of easy-to-put-on clothes and a plastic bag to cover his cast, and walked down the hallway to the guest bathroom. It was easy to hear pots and pans clinking in the kitchen, so he knew that Dean must be awake. He also distinctly remembered Paul saying something about needing to go visit a family friend that morning — so Dean was probably the only other person in the house.

Using his teeth and left hand, he tied the grocery bag on his right arm so that the cast was properly covered. He kicked the door shut behind him, moved to get the water going, and finally stepped back to take his clothes off.

It took longer than it should, but he managed. Once he was naked, he made sure there was a towel waiting for him, and finally pushed the shower curtain aside so he could step inside. 

It felt _amazing._ Like there was a thin layer of hospital gunk still stuck to his skin that was _finally_ being washed away. 

He poured the shampoo directly onto his head, since he was one hand short, and relished in the feeling of having clean hair. Once the shampoo was washed away, he looked around the shower for the soap… and frowned when he saw it tucked in the corner at the top of the shower stall. Who hid the soap so damn high? 

He reached up to grab it, but the small bar immediately slipped free of his wet hand and went flying down to the tub beneath his feet. When he moved to step back so he could bend over and grab the stupid slippery thing, he stepped on a soapy patch left behind by the bar and his feet were flying out from beneath him without warning. 

Castiel landed on his ass with a hard thud, and immediately after his back impacted with the side of the tub.

Normally it wouldn’t have hurt that bad — but the jarring was enough to send a ripple of pain through his already sore bones, and he couldn’t help but cry out in agony. “Fuck!”

Even over the sound of the water, the footsteps pounding down the hallway towards him were clear and immediate. 

“Cas?” came Dean’s voice from the other side of the bathroom door. “What happened — are you all right?”

He tried to speak, but the breath had gotten knocked out of him when he fell, so all he could do was cough and groan. _Fuck_ , it hurt.

Dean evidently took the lack of response as an invitation and opened the door. It opened slowly at first, and Dean’s head peered around the corner. “Cas?” Then he caught sight of Castiel lying twisted in the bathtub and moved into the room fully. “Shit, are you okay?”

His left arm had gone flying in the fall and caught the shower curtain, jerking it halfway across the curtain rod and allowing the water to splash out on the floor. Castiel turned his head and pouted. “I slipped. It hurts.”

Dean’s eyes tracked over Castiel’s naked body — quick enough that Cas could tell Dean was trying not to do it, but slow enough that Castiel noticed anyway. “I see this.” He reached across Castiel to turn off the water that was quickly getting everywhere. “Think you broke anything else?”

“No.” He groaned, looking towards the shower head that was now shut off. “Fuck, I swear I’m never going to get clean—”

“You, uh, you need a hand up?” Dean was avoiding looking at Castiel so obviously that it was painful.

He nodded, grabbing onto Dean’s offered arm and attempting to use the leverage to pull himself up. He slipped again and almost fell once more — if not for Dean’s quick reflexes grabbing onto his waist and pulling his weight towards Dean.

“Thanks,” Castiel said.

“Uh… no problem. You need anything else?”

Castiel leaned heavily against Dean as he stepped out of the shower. He looked back at it, though, and opened his mouth — ready to ask Dean for help getting clean. 

Then he remembered Paul’s words. There were _rules._ No touching. No giving in to desires. No _nothing_ until June.

He clamped his mouth shut, ducked his head, and tried to force his half-hard cock to fucking _go away_ as he shook his head. “No,” he whispered.

“Okay,” Dean said. He waited a moment longer before nodding his head and turning to walk out of the bathroom, pulling the door shut behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

The following Monday after Castiel’s move-in, he decided to stay home from school thanks to some very _persuasive_ arguments from Dean, Paul, and Henry. Because of that, he missed out on the all that happened at the school. 

Apparently, when Paul had told the principal about the attack and the subsequent change in Castiel’s living arrangements, he had also started the ball rolling on making sure punishment was handed out to the boys involved with the fight. Castiel had made it clear that he wasn’t interested in pressing charges against his attackers, but the school administration still had jurisdiction over its students and any incident that happened on school property. Over the weekend the principal contacted a few eyewitnesses and Monday. When Paul stepped through the front door of the house and saw Castiel sitting on the sofa, he couldn’t help but grin.

“Guess what?”

Castiel looked up, a weary expression on his face. “What?”

“The principal had a very important meeting this afternoon,” he said, laying his school bag on the table near the door. “A meeting that involved Ryan O’Neill and his friends, along with the boys’ parents and two local police officers. The boys have all been expelled, and if another incident occurs involving them and a hate crime in the future, the matter will immediately be brought to the police.”

“Really?” He looked relieved, but then worry creased his brow. “I already said that I don’t want to press charges, though. I just… I just want this to go away.”

“Well this way you don’t _have_ to press charges.” Paul moved over to the sofa and sat down next to Castiel. “You know we’d support you if that was what you wanted to do. We’ll support you with whatever choice you make. But think about how much good it does by making sure these boys face the consequences of their actions. This will deter them from future crimes against other students. Would you want someone else to go through this, Cas?”

“No, of course not.” Castiel looked down at his cast, picking at a frayed fiber that was sticking out. “Paul?”

“Yes?”

Castiel sat forward then, wrapping his arms around Paul in a hug, and pressing himself close to the older man’s chest. “Thank you.”

\---

Watching Castiel recover from his injuries was encouraging and frustrating all at the same time. Slowly, the bruises on his face faded, he was able to move around more, and needed to take fewer painkillers. At home, Dean noticed, his body language became relaxed — especially when Henry was around — and he smiled more. And, as the middle of May rolled around, everyone in the house got busy with either doing or marking school work.

At school, however, it was a different story. Castiel kept his head down while he walked through the busy hallways, and if he had never spoken up much in class before, now he was virtually mute. His injuries would have kept him off the field for the rest of the baseball season anyway, but under different circumstances Dean knew that Cas would have still gone to every practice and every game to support his teammates. Since returning to classes full-time, even with Ryan and the others gone, Castiel hadn’t stepped foot near any of the old haunts he’d had as a jock. He’d taken to eating lunch with Dean and Paul in Dean’s classroom, and spending his free periods with Henry in the library.

Unfortunately, as finals started to approach, Henry got more and more withdrawn. As Henry’s mother Enid had explained: when Henry was in ‘study mode’ he barely recognized that the world outside existed. He had to be reminded to eat and sleep, and sometimes even forgot to get dressed after showering.

But even if the disinterest wasn’t intentional, Castiel still felt pained by the lack of attention. All of that time in the library when Castiel didn’t have a class, was suddenly a nuisance for Henry who just wanted to study — not chat. 

Henry never acted like he was irritated with Castiel, but that didn’t stop Cas from thinking he was being a bother. So he made excuses and stopped showing up at the library. Instead, he carried his backpack outside during open periods and sat either in the middle of the football field, or the bleachers overlooking the grass.

The college that he had been set to attend had heard about his injury — his scholarship was suddenly off the table, and he couldn’t help but think it was less about his arm and more about him being gay. He didn’t know what to do for the future. He had spent most of his life preparing to play sports through college and then stumble into some career path once he was forced to choose.

Those dreams were suddenly dashed and he wasn’t left with much else. 

That afternoon, when school was finally over, the dark cloud that had settled over his mood was still lingering, despite being back home. He stepped into the house and carefully avoided running into Dean, who was already home from work, as he escaped down the hall and closed himself off in his room. 

Shrugging his backpack off his shoulders, he dropped the bag on the floor beside the bed — what was the point of doing homework — and settled in for messing around on his new phone. He’d been able to upgrade to a slightly nicer one after explaining to the phone company how his older one had gotten broken. He pointedly ignored how much time was passing as savory aromas eventually began floating into his room from the kitchen.

When the knock finally sounded on his door, something close to three hours had passed. Castiel glanced at the door and wondered if whoever was on the other side would assume that he was sleeping if he didn’t answer. 

The theory was shattered when the handle turned and the door pushed open.

Should’ve locked it.

Dean stepped into Cas’ room and crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s up? You don’t like my cooking?”

Castiel shrugged. “Not really hungry.” His stomach growled at him, a clear betrayal, and he hoped it wasn’t loud enough for Dean to hear.

“Well that’s a load of BS if I ever heard one.” Dean moved over and sat on the edge of the bed by Castiel’s feet. “What’s going on, kid? I haven’t seen Henry around here in a week. Did something happen between you two?”

“‘No. At least… I didn’t think so. I don’t get it. Everything was great, but the last little while, he’s just been _weird_.” They traded a look at that. “Okay, you know what I mean. Weirder than normal.”

“Have you talked to him about it?”

“No,” Cas shook his head and picked at a spot on his jeans with his left hand. The cast on his right was still intact — through a little more shabby and worn after a few weeks. “He’s in this, like, ‘study bubble.’ Every time I approach him or try to talk to him, he says he doesn’t have time.”

“I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with you, Cas.”

“You are?”

“You forget I’ve known him for a couple of years. He always gets like this around finals. Like, sure everyone feels the stress, but Henry always takes it a bit further. He’ll come back around, I promise.”

 _Perfect._ Just another thing to force his libido into hiding until after June. Castiel felt like throwing a lamp against the wall in frustration. It had been over four weeks since he had sex. And on top of that… though his left hand was _fine_... he couldn’t quite perfect the art of masturbation with his non-dominant hand. It felt off, the technique was wrong, and every time he got _close_... the frustration boiled over and he had to give up.

The night before he had actually searched ‘blue balls symptoms’ on his phone.

“It doesn’t look like that’s what you wanted to hear,” Dean said.

“I just — don’t get me wrong. I miss just hanging out with Henry, but…”

“But?” 

“I’m so horny I think I might die.” Dean’s immediate reaction was to laugh. As soon as he did, Castiel looked over at him with an unamused glare. “It isn’t funny, Dean.” He held up his right hand. “Do you _know_ how hard it is to masturbate with the wrong hand? It’s damn near impossible.”

“I do, actually.”

Castiel squinted at Dean in confusion, unsure if the other man was making fun of him or not. “You do?”

“Broke my wrist in college. Fell off my bike while drunk.”

“So how did you manage?”

Dean scratched the back of his neck and looked at the bed. “Well, uh…”

Castiel finished the sentence for him. “You had Paul, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. I did.”

Cas flopped back on the bed in frustration. “See? I don’t even have that.”

“Hold on, I have an idea.” Dean stood in a rush and left the room, leaving Castiel looking around in confusion. 

He heard footsteps going up the stairs, and then a couple minutes later they were coming back down. Dean appeared in the doorway again, carrying a couple of goodies with him. “Okay, I’m not going to touch you — but I am going to guide you through this, got it?” 

Castiel frowned, but slowly nodded his head. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the items in Dean’s hand, and craned his neck, trying to get a clearer look at them. 

“Good. Strip out of your clothes and get back up on the bed with your knees bent, feet planted, and legs spread as far as possible.”

The deep voice laying out instructions for him was enough to have Castiel’s cock twitching in interest. It took some time — anything to do with one good arm and clothing always did — but eventually he climbed back onto the bed and positioned himself. 

While Castiel was undressing, Dean had sat on the end of the bed and began preparing the small toy he’d brought down from upstairs. He passed the lube bottle to Castiel. “Even if it’s awkward — make it work. Prep that pretty hole for me.”

_Shit._

Awkward was a very fitting description, but Castiel forced himself to remain relaxed as he stretched his hole. Once he felt he was ready, he gave Dean a nod. 

Dean placed the vibrator in Castiel’s hand with a smirk. “Paul and I use this sometimes — the beauty of it is…” He held up his other hand, which held a small remote control, “I control how much you feel.”

Castiel examined the toy in his hand. It was slender, but curved like a beckoning finger, with a bulbous tip. “Shit.”

“I mean, if you’re game.” A note of uncertainty crept into Dean’s voice.

“Oh, I am! I’ve just never used… a _sex toy_ before. But I have had Paul inside me, so I’m sure I can handle this.” He smirked, coating the toy in lube before reaching down and positioning the head of the vibrator at his hole.

As the toy slowly slid in, Castiel heard Dean let out a surprised gasp. “Fuck, that’s as hot as I expected.”

Castiel held the base of the vibrator and twisted it slowly inside his hole until he felt the tip brushing over his prostate. As expected, the feeling sent a jolt straight to his cock. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes to meet Dean’s gaze… a moment later, a smirk crossed the older man’s lips as the toy began to vibrate. “Holy shit!”

Dean’s tongue darted out to wet his lips. “Good?”

“Holy… fuck… yes,” Castiel moaned.

“Good.” Castiel noticed Dean reach down and adjust himself, before returning his attention to the remote in his hand. “Don’t touch yourself yet.”

After a moment, Castiel lifted his head and stared at Dean. “I thought you were going to get me off _without_ me having to touch myself,” he challenged.

“Is that what you want? Want me to talk you through coming untouched?”

Castiel shivered, laying back and biting his lip for a moment before nodding. “Please.”

“Okay,” Dean said. With no other warning, he slid the dial on the remote up, increasing the intensity of the vibrations.

If he kept that up, Castiel was not going to have any more coherent thoughts in his head. His hips jumped off the bed a bit, and the intense pressure against his prostate was a completely new experience that he couldn’t put into words.

“Fuck, you look delicious,” Dean said, his voice almost a growl. “Just a few more weeks, and I can taste you again, feel your cock hot and heavy on my tongue. We can use this toy while you fuck my face, see how many times we can make you come before we actually fuck you.”

 _Fuck._ He could feel the orgasm building already. He knew that the edge was just barely out of his reach.

“I love that idea,” a voice spoke from the doorway.

The deep gravelly tone was all it took for Castiel to barrel over the brink. “Fuck!” His hips jerked and his cock began to spill onto his stomach. He reached down with his left hand and gripped the base of his dick, applying enough pressure to increase the intensity of his orgasm.

He rode through it, breathing deeply, and opened his eyes to see both Dean and Paul looking down at him.

“This is how you get around the ‘no touching’ rule, is it?” Paul asked, looking at his husband.

Dean shrugged, turning the vibrator off. “The kid was pouting because he was horny. What else was I to do?”

“You never were that good at self-restraint,” Paul said, moving into the room to stand next to Dean. He looked at the remote in Dean’s hand. “Do you remember the last time you and I used this one?”

“I do.” Dean leaned his head on Paul. “I think I’m going to have to part with it though. It looks _much_ hotter in him.”

Paul angled his head to get a better look at where Castiel still had his legs spread apart. “It does look very good — though I’m afraid I can’t choose favorites.”

Dean licked his lips. “Do you know how hard it is not to move over there and lick the come off of his belly? And cock?”

“I think I can relate, yes.” Paul circled around to stand in front of Dean, leaning down to kiss his husband as he straddled his hips, resting his weight on the bed.

“Oh shit,” Castiel mumbled from behind them. He pulled the vibrator out and tossed it aside, before using his discarded shirt to clean the come from his skin. Once he had, he slid up the bed until he was pressed just to the left of where Dean and Paul sat — close but _not_ touching. “You know what would make this moment hotter? If you were both naked and humping like horny teenagers.”

Dean looked over at Cas and grinned. The move exposed his neck — a fact which Paul promptly took advantage of by burying his face in the smooth flesh there and sucking.

\---

Two weeks before the end of school, Castiel was pulling his books from his locker, ready to leave for the day, when suddenly a familiar body came running up and wrapped around him. “Castiel! Cas! Cas! Oh my God, Cas! Guess what!”

Castiel spun around to see a very excited and slightly out-of-breath Henry. “What?” he asked, smiling. It was clearly good news, and it was a relief to see Henry look happy again. The boy really did take finals too seriously. “What is it?”

Henry triumphantly held up a slip of paper. “I got in! I got into Johns Hopkins University! Oh man.” He took a step back and stared down at the paper. “Their Biomedical Engineering program is one of the best in the country. I can’t believe this. I just… first choice, baby!”

“That’s — that’s amazing, Henry.” He hugged his boyfriend, plastering on the biggest smile he could. This was good, wasn’t it? Henry was beyond excited, and Castiel wanted him to feel happy, so why was he so disappointed?

“I have to go. Moms are gonna be so excited.” Henry kissed Castiel quickly on the cheek, before pulling away. “Celebration dinner this weekend. I’ll call you with the details!” He called over his shoulder as he ran out of the school.

Castiel watched him go and felt a sinking pit growing in his stomach. Johns Hopkins wasn’t in Kansas. Hell… it wasn’t even in a neighboring state. It was on the _east coast_. Two thousand miles away. 

He shouldered his backpack with his left hand and moved towards the front door. Usually he would seek out Dean or Paul for a ride home, but he wasn’t much in the mood for small talk, so he decided to walk instead.

\---

“Maybe it’s ‘senioritis’,” Paul offered.

Dean stripped out of his suit from work and shook his head. It had been a hell of a long day, and he hadn’t been able to get away from school until almost nine in the evening. “He’s got a week left, Paul. And he hasn’t been out of his room once. He barely has half a credit to complete, but it isn’t going to get done from home.”

“Have you asked Henry what’s going on?”

“I did. Henry said he hadn’t heard from Cas, other than when Castiel cancelled their dinner date last weekend.”

“I can tell what you’re thinking.”

Dean frowned, turning back to his husband. “You can?”

“You want to get in the middle of it, because you care about both those boys. And I do too. But it’s not your relationship. Let them work it out.”

He climbed into bed on his side and pouted. “It’s not, no, but Castiel’s moods are influencing his relationship with us. Surely that gives us a right to step in—”

“The relationship that shouldn’t even exist for another eight days, you mean.”

He laid back and faced away from Paul. “I can’t even talk to you when you’re like this,” Dean mumbled.

Paul shifted onto his side, pressing close to Dean’s back. “Like what?”

“Accurate.”

Paul sighed, and pressed a kiss into his husband’s shoulder. “We can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. After next Thursday Castiel will no longer be our student, and we can proceed with him however the three of us see fit.”

Dean turned around, thumping onto his back, and looking at Paul. “That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be able to ask him how he’s doing, though.”

“No, I don’t suppose it does. Just — remember your boundaries.”

\---

Castiel didn’t open the door when Dean tried to talk to him the next day. He also didn’t go to school. Again. When Dean got to school, he sought out Henry because he knew the boy would already be in the library studying.

Sure enough, Henry was sitting at one of the tables by himself with a spread of books in front of him. Dean moved over and sat down in the chair next to Henry’s. “Hey, you got a minute?”

Henry was immersed in the text he was reading, his lips mouthing words silently as his finger tracked along the page. He ignored Dean for almost a full minute before he reached the end of the page and looked up. “Sure, Dean. What is it?”

Dean coughed, and scratched at the side of his nose. “Mr. Winchester,” he corrected.

“Mr. Winchester,” Henry mirrored, entirely unphased by the guided movement towards more rather than less formality. “What’s up?”

He glanced around the room to see how many other students were within earshot. The place was practically deserted, except for a couple of people on the other side of the room. He looked back to Henry. “Cas hasn’t gotten out of bed in over a week. Or been to school. I know I asked you before if you knew what was going on, but I was hoping he might have texted you or something.”

Henry scrunched his face, thinking. “He hasn’t much, but it’s the last week.” He shrugged. “I guess I figured he was studying.”

Dean leveled his best _are-you-kidding-me_ stare at the boy in front of him. Henry would catch on eventually.

A few moments passed. Finally Dean saw the light go on in Henry’s eyes.

“Oh,” was all Henry said.

“Yeah, _’oh’_ is right.”

“What do you think is wrong?” The concern was plain on Henry’s face and Dean didn’t know whether to be touched that Cas’ boyfriend clearly loved him a lot, or smash his head on the desk at the boy not figuring it out sooner.

“I don’t know, Henry,” Dean said, trying his best to keep his impatience hidden. “That’s why I came to talk to you.”

“Well, except from school being busy, nothing’s really changed, except…”

 _Bingo._ “Except what?”

“I got into a school. A really good school.”

“Where?”

“Johns Hopkins. In Baltimore.”

“Shit. You told Cas yet?”

“Of course, he was the first person I told.”

Dean suddenly understood exactly what was going on. “Well, I guess that makes sense. Did you tell him Thursday, by any chance?” 

“Yeah, right before I went home.” A frown creased his features. “He was really excited for me, though, why would that have triggered a mood change?”

 _Stay out of it, Dean,_ Paul’s voice echoed through his head. He ignored it. Like always. “Have you not considered the possibility that he’s going to miss you?”

The frown deepened, and Henry waited a moment before replying, “No? It’s not like I won’t visit during breaks. And we can keep in contact with phone calls and text messages…”

“Henry, have you ever dated someone before?”

“No, why?”

 _Yeah, no kidding._ “Look, all that stuff about keeping in touch is true, but being apart is still really hard. Castiel cares about you a lot. That’s all I’m saying.”

“But… I got into _Johns Hopkins_ , Mr. Winchester.”

“I know, and it’s a fantastic school.”

Henry looked down at his book, staring at it like it would provide him with the answers to life. “I can’t give up my dream school just because Castiel is going to miss me.”

“No one’s asking you to.” He made to stand. “Just… talk to your boyfriend, Henry.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “I’ll call him as soon as I have a free minute.”

“You do that.” Dean let his hand linger on the desktop as he stepped away. “Sooner is better than later, though, okay?”

“Of course.” Henry’s eyes were back on his book, and when Dean didn’t walk away immediately, Henry looked up, annoyed. “I have to study, Mr. Winchester.”

Dean left without another word.

\---

Castiel was practically a ghost all through the last week of school. Dean would have assumed he’d be spending time with Henry, but he knew that Henry wasn’t terribly good company while he was focused on school.

The Saturday after school was _finally_ over, Dean was just finishing up a batch of pancakes when Castiel walked into the room and sat a pile of papers down on the counter. “I give up.” Castiel looked from Dean, over to where Paul sat reading the morning paper. “I’ve tried all week and half of last week… I thought that if I could get a summer job, I could make enough money to move to Maryland… but no one will hire me.”

Paul looked up from his paper. “Maryland? Why are you moving to Maryland?”

Dean answered for Cas. “Henry made it into Johns Hopkins.”

“And you knew? Why didn’t you tell me? Castiel, why didn’t _you_ tell me?”

“I didn’t tell either of you,” Castiel said, shooting a glare at Dean.

Dean held his hands up innocently. “I just went straight to the source and asked Henry what was going on.” Dean put the last pancake onto a plate, before shutting the stove off and moving over to where Cas stood. “You know, you could have come to us with this. We can help you.”

Cas leaned against the counter and sighed. “I couldn’t ask you that. I’m already a burden, and we’re not even… _y’know_.”

“We’re—”

From across the room, Paul interrupted them suddenly as he slapped both hands down on the table before pointing at Dean. “Oh my God, you sneaky bastard.”

Dean ducked his gaze as Castiel let out a confused, “Huh?”

“Dean Michael Winchester, you _sneak._ ” Paul shoved his paper away and stood. “ _’I really need a change of scenery. I think this would be the perfect opportunity. Yeah, of course Castiel will be on board, Paul.’_ ” He mocked.

“Okay, _what_ are you guys talking about?” Castiel asked, looking between the two of them.

“Go on, Dean. Tell Cas what’s going on.”

Dean pouted, glancing at Cas, before focusing on dishing up the pancakes. “I got a job in D.C.,” he said quietly.

Castiel stared at Dean, narrowing his eyes. “You… you want to come with us? With me?”

Paul moved across the kitchen and pressed up against Castiel’s side. “I think what my dear husband is attempting to say is… he’s way too infatuated with you to let you be sad here, or lonely there.” He brushed Cas’ hand with his own before leaning down and kissing him softly. “So am I, for that matter.”

Castiel brought his hand to his lips after the kiss ended and let his fingertips linger there for a moment. He squeezed Paul’s hand before turning to Dean and pulling him into a hug. “Thank you,” he whispered into Dean’s shoulder.

Dean happily buried his face in the crook of Castiel’s neck as he wrapped his arms around the younger man. “If this is what you want, Cas, this is what we’ll make happen.”

Castiel looked up at Dean, his eyes shining. “It is! It’s what I want. If… if it’s what you guys want, too.” He glanced back at Paul. “I mean, asking you to uproot your whole life for me, and for Henry…”

“You’re not asking, Cas. We’re offering. You know we love you, right?”

“I do,” he said, smiling. “I love you, too. Both of you. Shit,” he said, grinning. “I can’t wait to tell Henry.” He leaned forward and kissed Dean, pushing deeper into the kiss, his hands coming up behind Dean’s head. But after Dean began to lick into Castiel’s mouth, the younger man broke the kiss, pulling back. “We can’t — I mean, classes are done, but graduation isn’t for another week—”

Paul silenced Castiel, coming in close behind him to kiss his neck. “Cas, everything else is finished. I’d call it close enough, wouldn’t you?”

It was easy to hear the groan slipping past Castiel’s lips as he tilted his head to give Paul better access. “I _so_ would.”


End file.
